


Damaged Systems

by santanico



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-08-15
Updated: 2012-08-15
Packaged: 2017-11-12 05:45:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 514
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/487376
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/santanico/pseuds/santanico
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>For the Spice Up Your Life Teen Wolf ficathon - prompted Jackson/Lydia, tell me I'm your national anthem</p>
            </blockquote>





	Damaged Systems

Initially the more time they would spend together, the more they’d think they hated each other – Lydia would look at Jackson and scowl, and he would roll his eyes back at her. They both knew there was something terribly wrong with the way they treated each other but for some reason it worked, and for some reason they kept at it.

Maybe it was because when they looked at each other, it was almost like seeing a reflection in a different body. They both had the same style of dress, the same way of holding their heads high. Lydia was sharp as a tack and kept Jackson up to date on his schoolwork so he never fell behind – and Jackson boosted her self-esteem with an arm around her waist and whispering in her ear.

So neither of them is particularly sure when they ‘fall in love’. Lydia doesn’t say it, and she never tries to make Jackson say it either – something just changes unexpectedly in the way he kisses her, how he holds her just a little tighter and their mouths turn and noses bump. It’s not familiar the way his other kisses were, when he used to just grip her waist loosely and let their lips pause for a moment.

Jackson is a closed down person. He’s determined though, and when he’s around Lydia his determination shines through – he’s almost like a beacon, too bright and something to inhale. Lydia doesn’t know how to describe the feeling; it’s the perspiration on her neck and down her face in the summer, it’s his hands on her back and edging their way over her hips to slide under her skirt. Maybe it’s the way they touch, how summertime bleeds away and they’re so damned young, so damned young…

 _“I should hate you,”_ makes more sense than anything to Lydia.

But she doesn’t.

“You have a terrible singing voice,” he tells her and she scrunches her eyebrows and glares.

“Shut the hell up,” she answers, knows there’s a trill in her words but can’t bring herself to care. He’s there, and whether he’ll admit it to her or to anyone or not, he’s clearly there for a reason. That’s how Lydia keeps herself together. With Jackson, they both have reasons. Maybe it’s not the clearest, but they’re together.

Something changes with Jackson. Not something idle or small, but not something that makes him completely different, either. He’s still Jackson at the core, uncertain and full of anger and restrictions, but he starts to talk to her, he starts to tell her things, he starts to open up. Neither of them say “I love you,” but it no longer needs to be said. Maybe Jackson just needs time, maybe he needs to root himself (he’s still wobbly as a wolf, but he tells Lydia that he won’t hurt her, that she keeps him from hurting people now and he means it), maybe he needs space.

But he holds her hand. He says, “Be careful,” and she nods.

He’s saying it for her.

They mesh, quiet and easy.


End file.
